Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Famm · Dec 28, 2015

Do you guys think Rey is going to get her hand chopped off?

Mahes · Dec 28, 2015

Qhue_sl said:
I just started rewatching Ex Machina and realized he was Hux. Domnhall Gleason and Oscar Issac are having a pretty epic year.

So is Alicia Vikander. She's just not acting in Star Wars. Seeing the other two actors did make me ponder at whether or not she was considered for the role of Rey.

khorum · Dec 28, 2015

Mahes_sl said:
So is Alicia Vikander. She's just not acting in Star Wars. Seeing the other two actors did make me ponder at whether or not she was considered for the role of Rey.

She definitely has the physique and the physicality for it (Vikander is a ballerina).... but the full frontal bush scene prolly took her off the list for Disney's Space-Jew Mulan with a Lightsaber.

Tanoomba · Dec 28, 2015

Khalan_sl said:
He isn't. See every Imperial pilot, officer, and solider who defected to the rebel alliance (I.e a lot)

Weird. I don't remember hearing any reference to former imperials who defected to the rebels and I certainly don't remember any other stormtrooper-turned-good-guys. It's entirely possible my memory isn't that great.

In any case, my point stands: It would have made more sense if Finn had been given some extra reason to question his actions as a Stormtrooper. A flashback to a quote from his mother, an officer killing his dog,something. As it stands he was in exactly the same position as all the other Stormtroopers with presumably the same training but behaved radically differently. It's not a movie-killer by any means, but it did stick out for me.

Palum · Dec 28, 2015

Well it's probably only odd because they set up that whole scene with the 'blah blah conditioning from birth instead of clones' line and they bring the program up again briefly at least once more regarding his behavior. So clearly something didn't 'take'. If it was just a regular dude that was all 'fuck yea Vietnam is... woah... oh hell no...' then yea say no more.

khorum · Dec 28, 2015

In the novelization both Phasma and Hux mention Psytek squads and reconditioning which means its a real enough problem to merit a bureaucratic response. They cut that along with a ton of other shit tho

Khalan · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
Weird. I don't remember hearing any reference to former imperials who defected to the rebels and I certainly don't remember any other stormtrooper-turned-good-guys. It's entirely possible my memory isn't that great.

In any case, my point stands: It would have made more sense if Finn had been given some extra reason to question his actions as a Stormtrooper. A flashback to a quote from his mother, an officer killing his dog,something. As it stands he was in exactly the same position as all the other Stormtroopers with presumably the same training but behaved radically differently. It's not a movie-killer by any means, but it did stick out for me.

See Biggs Darklighter

Royal · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
Weird. I don't remember hearing any reference to former imperials who defected to the rebels and I certainly don't remember any other stormtrooper-turned-good-guys. It's entirely possible my memory isn't that great.

chaos · Dec 28, 2015

Saw it again. Took my 3 year old. During the end fight she started cheering "Go Darth Vader go!" So, there's that.

On rewatch the only thing thatreallybothered me was the rushed ending. One minute Poe is blowing the whateverthefuck thing up, then the planet is collapsing, and within moments it turns into a star or something. Hard to believe that was enough time for Hux and Phasma to escape, let alone find Ren somewhere in the woods and rescue him. I realize they needed their big event but that just annoys me.

Aside from that, only minor gripes. Yeah I rank this one above ANH. And on a Monday night, the theater was still packed and people still cheered and shit. I realize it's only been out a couple of weeks, but that was surprising to me.

Needless · Dec 28, 2015

It turned into a new, full sun zomg!

I don't know how you go from somebody badass like darth maul, to a little pussy fuccboi like kylo ren. JJ Abrams please

Tanoomba · Dec 28, 2015

Khalan_sl said:
See Biggs Darklighter

Oh. Was his switching sides even mentioned in the movie?

Anyway, I admit that I worded my initial gripe wrong. I have no issue with Stormtroopers getting a conscious and becoming good guys (I think that's a great narrative device, and I very much enjoyed seeing characterization given to what we usually take for granted as faceless grunts). I just think, cinematically, it would have worked better if we had been given a reason for him to behave differently from all the other Stormtroopers.

Royal · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
Oh. Was his switching sides even mentioned in the movie?

Luke mentions going to the academy like Biggs in ANH. That's the Imperial Academy he's talking about.

Shonuff · Dec 28, 2015

chaos_sl said:
Saw it again. Took my 3 year old. During the end fight she started cheering "Go Darth Vader go!" So, there's that.

Find a priest and some holy water now.

My five year old was irate that there was a girl jedi. He said only boys can be jedis, because they are strong. He got into an argument with the female adult family members in my family over Christmas. He stuck to his guns.

Royal · Dec 28, 2015

chaos_sl said:
And on a Monday night, the theater was still packed and people still cheered and shit. I realize it's only been out a couple of weeks, but that was surprising to me.

We went yesterday morning at 9:15. Theater was probably 3/4 full and some of the later showings were already sold out.

As the theater was letting out I overheard a little kid ask his dad if they could watch the other Star Wars movies and his dad said "I don't think we have any of those". This thing is gonna end up making Fox a little coin as well.

Famm · Dec 28, 2015

Both showings I went to there were kids dressed up and just being excited entering and leaving the theater. Hopefully this success makes them stick with the practical effects and good production value approach in all the future movies, because I'm guessing this won't be going anywhere soon, its literally the next MCU but with an even broader demographic spread and the consequent money making potential.

Ender4212 · Dec 28, 2015

Saw this at 4:30 on Christmas day. Theater was probably 80-90% full. I liked it, but it was surely part relief that it wasn't the prequels. I like the new characters and look forward to seeing more of them, but if someone ends up in carbonite in episode 8 then I quit!

Hoss · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
Weird. I don't remember hearing any reference to former imperials who defected to the rebels and I certainly don't remember any other stormtrooper-turned-good-guys. It's entirely possible my memory isn't that great.

In any case, my point stands: It would have made more sense if Finn had been given some extra reason to question his actions as a Stormtrooper. A flashback to a quote from his mother, an officer killing his dog,something. As it stands he was in exactly the same position as all the other Stormtroopers with presumably the same training but behaved radically differently. It's not a movie-killer by any means, but it did stick out for me.

There's a book that tells us about finn, poe, and rey right before TFA. In that book they go into more detail about Finn being a super trooper for whom the conditioning just didn't quite take. Phasma specifically didn't like that he kept saving his weaker squad-mates. I'm pretty sure they also mentioned that he didn't know his parents and the only name he ever knew was the designation the First Order gave him.

Needless · Dec 28, 2015

Finn is totally gonna be landos lovechild

Jive Turkey · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
- Threepio's awkward line "Maybe you don't remember me because of my red arm". That seemedreallyout of place, especially since they don't even explain the red arm (saving that for a sequel or spinoff, I guess).

I just took that to be a throwaway joke line from him. Sort of showing his awkward social nature and nothing more. It was a funny little scene in what could've been an overwrought reunion

Fight · Dec 28, 2015

Tanoomba_sl said:
Finally saw this today and really enjoyed it.

Things I loved:
- REALLY felt like Star Wars. There were a ton of throwbacks: Snow terrain, desert terrain, "I've got a bad feeling about this", varying alien species assembled in a venue with an alien band playing, planet-destroying super-weapon, trench run (including Porkins substitute), screen wipes, familiar score, etc, etc. Surprisingly no hands chopped off, though.
- The original trilogy characters looked and played fantastic. Han was weathered but still maintained his cool, Leia was composed and conveyed the proper degree of emotion, Luke looked fucking fantastic with his Obi-Wan homage... I went in expecting to groan at the shoehorned-in seniors but I was pleasantly surprised.
- None of the humor or stuff aimed at kids was overdone or exaggerated. The jokes didn't pull you out of the moment and often added a welcome dose of light-heartedness (I loved the BB8 thumbs-up).
- The action was great. Keeping a lot of the vehicle battles close to the ground actually made them feel fresh and exciting.
- There were a couple of CG characters that kind of stood out (goggles lady and giant throne guy), but otherwise there didn't seem to be much noticeable CG to pull you out of the experience.
- Excellent decision to keep some characters out of the spotlight (Luke and Artoo come to mind) in order to allow the main characters room to breathe.
- The killing off of an important character was done appropriately and worked well within the story.

Things I'm a bit "meh" about:
- Han's a VERY seasoned pilot who knows the Millenium Falcon inside out... Does he really have no idea whether or not you can go inter hyperspeed from a standing position in a docking bay?
- Similarly, he's clearly never left Chewie's side in many years. Why is he now acting like he's seeing Chewie's bowcaster in action for the first time? "Hey, can I try that?" "Well, sure Han, it has been 40 years, I guess I'll let you have a shot."
- Why is Finn the only Stormtrooper ever to question what he's doing and act on it? If they had included some kind of event that gave him a different perspective than the other Stormtroopers it might have made sense, but he was justthat one guywho didn't like shooting innocent people.
- Similarly, Finn didn't seem to have to overcome any demons before he began gunning down his former comrades in cold blood. Sure, they're the bad guys but, like him, they had no say in the matter, right? They were just better at sticking to their training than he was.
- Threepio's awkward line "Maybe you don't remember me because of my red arm". That seemedreallyout of place, especially since they don't even explain the red arm (saving that for a sequel or spinoff, I guess).
- Not a single line from Luke? Not one?
- Not enough explanation of whether or not Leia has any awareness of/ability to control her own force powers. I don't think we got anything more than a telepathic reaction when Han was iced.

Overall REALLY liked it, though. An hour and a half later and I was already getting the urge to watch it again.

Too Tanoomba Didn't Read.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

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